John Stones have known Harry Maguire for nearly two decades and revealed the pair often shared jokes over texts – meaning the Manchester City defender was ‘without a doubt’ his England team-mate would find his Cup form world.

The two centre-backs may cross Manchester’s division, with Maguire captaining Manchester United, but they are long-time friends and have built a great understanding at the heart of Gareth Southgate’s defence.

Maguire was dropped by United recently and was also mocked by a small section of England fans earlier in the year.

But Southgate kept their faith in the 29-year-old and that was rewarded with a fine performance in Monday’s 6-2 win over Iran before Maguire fell ill.

“First of all, definitely,” Stones replied when asked if Maguire would settle with England despite his club form.

“Harry hasn’t played much at his club, but to come and play the way he has, I don’t think anyone has seen a bit of rust on him.

“It’s a credit to him and I’m so happy for him and everyone who played. As a player you want and have to play and have a good pace. But let him come and play the way he has. fact, it is to his credit.

Jordan Pickford hopes England will be treated fairly by officials after the boss Gareth Southgate said he was “worried” that his side was used as an example during the pre-world Cup referee meetings.

England were denied what looked like a free kick when Harry Maguire was grabbed by Rouzbeh Cheshmi early in their 6-2 win over Iran on Monday.

VAR decided not to intervene but then alerted the referee to a shirt tugging in the England penalty area which resulted in Mehdi Taremi scoring a last-minute penalty, while a similar offense resulted in a spot-kick in Argentina’s shock loss to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.

England and six other federations feared their captains would have been shown a red card, and there was essentially ‘unlimited liability’, if they wore the OneLove armband when they opened world Cup matches.

There wouldn’t even have been the prospect of an iconic photo, as any penalties would have been administered before the teams entered the pitch. It is for this reason that the federations were keen to take the decision out of the hands of the players and not to put pressure on them.

The relatively small armband gesture – a protest against Qatar’s laws and its attitude towards LGBTQ+ groups – has become one of the biggest issues in a hugely contentious World Cup. The German FA have previously accused Fifa of ‘extreme blackmail’ in talks, and there was genuine fear they could have seen players like Harry Kane, Virgil van Dijk and Gareth Bale suspended.

Kane suffered a blow to his right ankle after an awkward challenge from Morteza Pouraliganji in England win 6-2 against Iran on Monday – the biggest victory ever won by the national team at the start of a major tournament.

The Spurs striker, who has a history of ankle problems, played for 25 minutes but was seen limping after the game and underwent a precautionary examination.

But the 29-year-old was given the green light to train on Wednesday, with England’s official Twitter account sharing a photo of him in training complete with the caption ‘skipper’ and a fist emoji.

Gareth Southgate did not rule out his England side making a move to highlight human rights concerns at the Qatar World Cup, but said they would not come under any pressure to do so.

Seven European nations participating in the World Cup – including Germany, England and Wales – planned to wear OneLove anti-discrimination armbands during the tournament, but were dissuaded following the threat of sporting sanctions from FIFA.

Southgate, whose side will face the United States in their second game on Friday, said: “I don’t think we should feel any pressure – I think we’ve been talking about these particular topics for over a year. and we have supported all manners of good causes, either as individuals or collectively.

As England started playing the ball against Iran, they felt something different.

“Definitely a click,” John Stones said of the 6-2 victory. “Or a desire to make things right. We were coming out of a bad period. »

They can now look the other way. England have scored more goals against Iran than in the entire Nations League campaign. The reality, however, was that it was a step up from Gareth Southgategeneral style rather than just the last eight months.

“I guess people wouldn’t expect us to be like this after watching us for a few years and the style of football we play,” admitted the manager. “Maybe we’ve regressed to the norm.”

The challenge now is to make it the norm and illustrate that it was not partly the product of the disarray in which Iran finds itself; that England has announced its credentials.

Preview of football editor Miguel Delaney’s big game in Doha:

As England teenage football hero Jude Bellingham returns to the pitch in Qatar Friday, friends and neighbors in his hometown of Stourbridge in the West Midlands are brimming with pride.

And none more so than his former elementary school keeper, who used to retrieve the player’s stray ball from the roof as a child.

“It seemed like a daily occurrence,” says Mark Williams The Independent. “You could tell then that he was a pretty good little footballer and was destined to be.”

“He seemed to do that more than any other kid. It became a joke. Every day the ladders were taken out. I kept them on hold for this reason.

He adds: “He was a very pleasant boy. He always asked you to get the ball down well.

It made the midfielder the second teenager – after Michael Owen – to score for the Three Lions at a World Cup.

Jesus Valenzuela is the referee for England’s match against the United States at the world Cup tonight.

The Venezuelan takes charge of his first match at the World Cup after being selected as one of the 36 referees for the tournament in Qatar.

The 39-year-old is considered one of the best referees in South America – taking charge of matches in the Copa America, Copa Libertadores, Copa Sudamericana and South American World Cup qualifiers .

He is a professional referee in Venezuela’s top flight, where he officiated nine matches before the league came to a halt for the World Cup.

In those matches, however, Valenzuela showed red cards in seven of them, as well as a series of yellow cards.

The adversaries are this time United Stateswho themselves drew with Wales – although Gregg Berhalter’s side will no doubt spoil the fact that they were so dominant in this early game and failed to ensure that their superiority counts enough to take the three points.

The United States know that while a loss would make things difficult, they still have to face Iran in their final game – reportedly the weakest of the quartet, with four points potentially enough to move on depending on results elsewhere.

Bukayo Saka’s brilliant performance in the Three Lions opener surely means he will hold onto his place, with perhaps only injuries likely to see Gareth Southgate change his line-up.

The Group B match will kick off at 7 p.m. on Friday, November 25 at Al-Bayt Stadium in Al Khor.

England will qualify for the knockout stage of the World Cup if they beat the United States on Friday.

Here’s a closer look at the side that gets in the way of Gareth Southgate‘s men.